Improvement in cruc i b le-fu rn aces



E. P. REIGHHELM & O. P. KOESTER.

Crucible-Furnace. a

No. 223,007. Patented Dec. 30,1879.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIon.

EDWARD P. REICHHELM, OF JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, AND CARL F. KOESTER,

OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

lMPROVEMENT IN CRUCI BLE-FURNACES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,007, dated December 30, 1879; application filed To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, EDWARD P. Baron- HELM, of Jersey City Heights, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, and CARL F. KOESTER, of Hoboken, New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Crucible Furnaces, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a vertical central sec tion of a furnace embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof in the plane of the line a: m, Fig. 1.

Similar letters indicate correspondin g parts.

Our invention relates to furnaces for heating crucibles of which the fuel is gas concentrated by a forced current of air; and it consists in a receiver adapted to connect with gas and air supply sources for distributing these agentsand a series of burners rising from said chamber, so as to receive a supply of gas and air therefrom, combined with a heating'chainher, into which the burners project. The heating-chamber has adetachable perforated bottom, and beneath the same is arranged a detachable vessel, in order that if the crucible, situated in the heating-chamber, break, the molten metal is permitted to escape from the chamber.

In the 'dra-win gs, the letter A designates the receiver; B, the burners, and O the heatingchamber. To the receiver A are connected two pipes, 61 0, one of whiehis intended to supply the same with gas, and the other to conduct thereto an impelled current of air, the gas and air being thence led to the burners. By the use of this receiver we insure an even distribution of the gas and air to the several burners. In this example of our invention the receiver A is divided, by means of a partition, f, into a gas-chamber, A, and an air-chamber, A and pipes g project from the latter into the burners B but these features may, if desired, be omitted. The supply-pipes d c, moreover,

may, if desired, be joined together at any suitable point, so that the gas and air enter the receiver at one and the same place.

The burners B are secured to the top of the receiver A, and are tapered at their upper ends, where they are to be ignited. At their upper ends the burners B, moreover, are bent inward, and are attached to a flanged inverted truncated cone, 1), which supports the wall of the heating-chamber 0, so that the gas issuing from the burners is projected into this heatingchamber, its course being upward and inward. The inverted cone 1) also supports the bottom of the heating-chamber (marked E) and a cup or vessel, F, this vessel being placed under neath the bottom, and both being by their arrangement rendered detachable; Said bottom E of the heating-chamber is suitably shaped to support a crucible, G, and in the same are formed a series of perforations, i, a groove or depression, j, being also preferably formed in the upper surface of the bottom, to connect the perforations.

If the crucible placed in the heating-chamher 0 is defective and breaks, the molten metal thus let free runs through the perforationsi into the vessel F, from which it may be remoyed at any time, and hence the heatingchamber is not liable to be clogged or encumbered by the metal. tion escape from the heati n g-chamberG through an orifice. l, which also renders the interior of the chamber visible to the attendant.

If desired, the air-inlet pipe 0 may be connected to the bottom of the gaschamber A at the center thereof, and the feed-pipes g arranged to diverge or radiate from the upper end of said air-inlet pipe, and in that case the air-chamber A is dispensed with.

I am aware that a blast gasburner has been constructed of a movable chamber divided into two compartments by a horizontal partition, and the upper side of the chamber being constructed with a series of apertures, through which extend a series of tubes projecting from the under side of the horizontal partition, the lower compartment formed by the partition communicating with an air-supply pipe, and the upper compartment communicating with a'gassupply pipe, whereby the air under pressure is forced through the said tubes and mixes The products of combuswith the gas which passes through the apertures in the top of thechamber as the same issue from the burner, and such I hereby disclaim.

hat we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with areeeiver and distrihuter having openings to connect With gas and air supply sources, and a series of burnertubes emanating from the receiver and distributer, ofa vertically-arranged heating-chamher, with which the upper ends of the burnertubes connnunicate, said heating chamber serving to receive a crucible, and having a passage for the escape of the products of combustion, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with the receiver or dis trihuter having openings to connect with gas and air supply sources, and a series of burnertubes emanating from the receiver or distributer, ota vertical heating-chamber, with which the upper ends of the burner-tubes com in unicate, the bottom of said heating-chamber having a series of vertical passages and a cup, shaped vessel suspended beneath the said bottom forreceivin and holding the molten metal should the crucible break, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination of the receiver or distributor A, having openings to connect with gas and air supply sources, a series of burnertubes, B, emanating from the receiver or distributer, and having tapering upper ends, the inverted cone D, through which said tapered ends of the burner pass, the vertical heatingchamber 0, the detachable bottom. E, having a series of vertical passages, z, and arranged below the upperends of the burners, and the detachable cupshaped vessel F, arranged below the said bottom, the bottom and vessel being 

